Today, we’re sharing some behind the scenes at how we create the game music in Soulbound: Online, specifically, how we create different tracks for zones.
Making the Music Move With the Player
We knew early on that we wanted to create a system that allowed the music to shift and change as the player moved through the world. When a player enters a town, leaves a town, or moves between different areas of a map, the music should be able to respond naturally. To do this, we created a system that lets us trigger the start, stop and transition of music when entering and leaving a zone. This gives us much more control over how each part of the world feels. The centre of a town can have one musical identity, while the outskirts or surrounding wilderness can lean into something different.
Within these zones, we can also have different music for different times of day. This means the soundtrack can change to match the atmosphere on screen, becoming darker, softer, or cozier as night falls. On top of that, we added the ability to have multiple track variations that can be selected at random, giving each area more musical variety and helping the soundtrack feel like it is always flowing with the player.
Designing Virelda’s Zone Music
As you soul-link from the beacon into the vast desert and your eyes adjust to the blinding sun you find yourself in Virelda. Virelda town is a tribal community in the open desert, nestled between a mountain range and the wider world. It sits at the mouth of the only overland route to the walled metropolis Arcadia. Vireldians survive through scavenging, trading and working together. But musically we never wanted it to feel like just a checkpoint or marketplace.
Even though the town exists in a harsh desert, It is a place built around community, and old knowledge passed down through generations. Everyone has a role and everyone knows each other. The kind of place where survival is difficult and yet people still make space for comfort, food, stories, music and rest. Inside the town, there is shelter. There is shade. There is the feeling of sitting near a fire after travelling too long. We wanted the music to capture that sense of relief, the feeling that the player has arrived somewhere safe. So, how did we do that?
The Instruments Behind Virelda
To start with we brainstormed some instrument choices with the focus placed firmly on having a relaxing, home-like feel. After a great deal of deliberation, demos, instrument tests and iterations we landed on a set of instruments that personified virelda’s charm down to a tee.
Daduk
The Daduk is a traditional Armenian woodwind instrument, usually made from apricot wood. It’s soft, breathy, almost vocal sound makes it feel human and intimate. For this town, that tone helps bring out the calm and cozy side of the desert.
Harps
An instrument known for its gentle, flowing sound. Its soft plucked notes add a peaceful, almost dreamlike quality to the town music, helping the area feel safe and welcoming.
Solo Cello
The cello has a warm, and expressive tone. It can feel gentle and grounded without becoming too heavy, which makes it perfect for adding emotional warmth to the town.
String Ensemble
The string ensemble adds a soft bed of warmth underneath the track. Compared to the solo cello, it feels wider and more communal, helping the town feel lived-in and gentle.
Percussion
The percussion is kept very subtle here, using small touches of shakers, timpani, and cymbals rather than a constant rhythm. The shakers add a soft, sandy texture, while the timpani and cymbals give tiny moments of weight and shimmer.
The Melody
The melody was easily the part that fought us the most. In zone music, the melody has to do a very specific job: it needs to be memorable enough to give the area an identity, but gentle enough that it can still be enjoyable after repetition. That balance is surprisingly easy to get wrong.
We went through countless versions, trying different keys, modes, octaves, and all sorts of tiny changes. But after a lot of trial and error, I think we landed on something pretty great.
The melody starts high, cascading down mimicking the player arriving at the town. It makes walking into Virelda for the first time feel warm, safe, and inviting.
The Final Track: “A day in Virelda”
Here is the final track, after a lot of iteration, we eventually landed on this version. It has that warm, welcoming feeling we wanted for a town where every pioneer begins their journey. A place that sends you out into the world, but still feels like home when you return. For me, that makes it a great piece of music to start you on your journey in Soulbound: Online
“Virelda at Night”
Watch out for the next music article, where I’ll be diving into night music, and how the game’s sound changes once the sun goes down.
Bonus:
Here is the legacy Virelda music that we have updated for Soulbound:Online